


Hell and Back

by Yenneferrrr



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25035601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yenneferrrr/pseuds/Yenneferrrr
Summary: October 10th. It had always been the five of them.
Relationships: Gil Grissom/Catherine Willows, Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle, Louis "Lou" Vartann/Catherine Willows
Kudos: 7





	Hell and Back

**Author's Note:**

> So... my first fic that has GSR established, but I couldn't help myself and had to throw in the Grillows friendship. Sorry for any grammar mistakes! Song is Hell N Back by Bakar. I also based this off of his birthday from 2019, because 2020 is a shitshow and we don't talk about it.

October 10th. 

It was a day that held dear in their hearts. 

Warrick’s birthday.

The first couple of years had been hard on everyone, especially when the day came. And it had ultimately been Greg’s idea to get everyone out of their sorrow, starting off the celebration of Warrick’s life with a small get-together. It had always been the five of them. 

Catherine had offered to host it at her home.

Nick was in charge of the grill.

Greg took up the responsibility of music.

Sara would carry in the alcohol.

Gil stood underneath the pergola, once everyone had gathered around, and started off the day with a heart-felt remembrance of their colleague, their friend… their family member.

And every year, without fail, all five of them would show up. It didn’t matter if it was a Monday, or a Friday, the five of them would find a way to make it work. Even with their crazy schedules, and living miles apart. 

This particular year, it fell on a Thursday. 

Greg and Nick were the first to arrive to her home, driving in from Nick’s place in San Diego. 

When the doorbell sounds off, she hurriedly shuffles to the door, excitement coursing through her body. She hadn’t seen the boys since last year, on this exact day. And when she pulls the door open, her eyes unwillingly brim with tears at their faces. 

Nick is first to wrap his arms around her, abandoning the ice chest he’d been carrying on the ground. His hugs were the best, with strong arms enveloping her into his firm body. Pulling away slightly, her hands frame his handsome face, and she plants a friendly kiss to his forehead. 

He grins, rubbing her back, and passes her off to Greg.

“Oh, don’t think I forgot about you,” she says with a shaky, but happy voice. She wipes away at a stray tear that threatens to fall down her cheek, refusing to let the grown men in front of her know how much she really missed them. Greg opens his arms wide, and she walks into his embrace. She hugs him tight, and places an identical, sweet kiss to his forehead.

Like a mother welcoming home her two children.

“Looks like we beat Gris and Sara,” Nick says, hauling the ice chest through her pristine home, and back to the poolside. 

She glances at the clock in her kitchen, and sniffs, reeling her emotions back. 

“You know that man is never on time for anything,” she retorts, watching as Greg helps himself to an assortment of finger-foods she had been preparing before their arrival. It’s only ten o’clock in the morning, but the sun is already high and hot. And by the time noon hits, there are at least a dozen more people that have arrived. 

Catherine looks around at the group of people, people who have come to celebrate Warrick, and her heart aches. Although she was grateful for such a good turnout, with more and more people showing with every year that passed, she just couldn’t help but think the most important person of the day was missing- and how it wasn’t fair. 

A shirtless Nick is quick to nudge her when he sees the telltale sign that she’s thinking about him. 

“Hey,” he says softly, barely over the music Greg is playing. “I miss him too,” he offers, his arm coming around her shoulders to pull her into his side. She nods, not trusting her voice to speak, and lets one hand fall against his chest to steady herself. She looks up at him, through her dark aviators, and smiles. 

She’s still close to Nick when she sees them, Grissom and Sara making their way through the back patio door that had been pushed open for easy access in and out. The breeze picks up, blows Sara’s sundress from around her knees. The couple make their way towards her and Nick, Grissom pulling along another cooler that holds all the alcohol. His floral print button-down makes Catherine grin, and he tilts his head, his Costa strawhat blocking the sun from his face.

“Hey, boss,” Nick says, pulling away from Catherine to shake Gil’s hand. Sara smiles wide when she sees Catherine, leaves her husband’s side to hug the older woman.

The two women embrace, blonde hair tangling with brunette as the wind blows, and Grissom watches with a sense of pride. His wife and best friend… finally on terms with one another; not that he had ever doubted their inevitable friendship, but thankful that it hadn’t taken long. 

It’s a stark contrast, he notices, Catherine’s now sun-kissed skin against Sara’s paler frame. His wife’s sundress clashes with his best friend’s cutoff denim shorts and tight tank, revealing her navy blue bikini underneath.

“It’s good to see you,” Sara says sincerely, before turning to Nick, who takes his turn embracing the brunette.

Catherine feels stuck in place, her feet like lead. She always did this, always felt this way when she saw him. It was easy for her walk into Nick and Greg’s arms, even after being apart for a year… but him? But like the times before, all it takes is that boyish grin to appear on his face, and she melts.

“Hey, you,” she says finally, walking into his outstretched arms. There were only three people in the world who’d he hug, and she was one of them. And it felt good to be back in them, she thinks. 

“Hey,” she responds into his chest, letting their hug last a moment longer than the rest. She pulls back to get a closer look at him, her hand reaching up to cup his jaw. “No more beard,” she asks, her hand cool against his skin. She only does it for a second, to test that their close friendship remains intact. Besides Sara, no one else dared touch him… especially his face. But he doesn’t flinch, doesn’t pull away. 

They’re dragged in different directions before they can say anything else to each other, Nick handing her a cold drink, and Greg running over to greet Grissom. Sara opts for a bottle of water as Catherine cracks open the fruity hard-seltzer that was the new rave. 

“We can’t get this party started yet,” Nick says, handing the Grissom and Greg their respective drink choices. And as he’s done times before, Grissom takes the spotlight. Nick and Catherine stand tall, above the rest from where they are on her pergola, Sara and Greg elbow each other playfully. “You’re up, Gris.”

It takes a moment, and he licks his lips slowly as he thinks of the perfect words for Warrick. It’s a piece from a poem from Laurence Binyon he had read earlier that week, one that left resonance with him. And he can recite it flawlessly.

“ _They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them._ ”

It’s a ritual, an understanding, that when their drinks all touch rims, it was for their friend. And they all drink… for him. 

–

As the day progresses, they fall back into their effortless places. Sara had long taken off her sundress, her black onepiece hugging every curve, and she lounged back near the water. Wendy has captured her attention with talk of David and the move to Portland. Greg and Nick are huddled around Catherine’s gas grill, and Gil is in the water.

She makes a round to check on her guests, and after ensuring everyone is taken care of, she tries her luck in the pool. The water has warmed thanks to the harsh sun, and Grissom watches from where he floats in the middle of the pool. Her strawberry blonde hair had long been piled into a messy bun on top of her head, her dark sunglasses shielding her eyes from the sun. 

With one hand clutching her canned drink, she slowly wades through the water until she’s standing in front of him. He’s held up by a foam pool seat, bobbing through the water as other people dive in and climb out. He watches through his own dark glasses as the water laps at her toned abdomen. 

“I’m glad you guys were able to make it out here,” she says, before taking a cool sip of the strawberry-coconut concoction. 

There’s an up-beat song that suddenly catches her attention, one that she’s heard before.

“ _Could you tell where my head was at when you found me? Me and you went to hell and back just to find peace._ ”

She cocks an eyebrow, and he grins at her. 

“We wouldn’t miss it,” he says, his eyes falling to the sparkling diamond on her ring finger, as she clutches the slim can close to her chest. A pool-goer calls out to her, offers her their pool float before they climb out of the water, and she accepts. She hoists herself into it gracefully, and Grissom pulls at the handles of her chair to drag her closer to him. He kicks them off into the deeper end of the pool, sipping at his own beer. 

“Everything still good?” He tosses his head to the side, looking back over at her. “With you and Sara,” she elaborates, nodding off towards the woman lounging back in the sun. 

“We’re fine,” he confirms, calm and collected. He didn’t really talk much about his relationship with his wife, except with Catherine. And even then, it was generic conversation; she’d ask if they were okay, he’d alleviate her concerns, and they’d go about their day. 

“Good,” she says with a sly smile. “It suits you- the whole… marriage thing,” she teases, reaching out to drape her hand over his, her own engagement ring bumping into his metal wedding band. 

He smirks, turns his hand over, laces their fingers together.

“Is Lou going to make it,” he asks, inquiring about her own significant other. She doesn’t have the heart to go into detail about their recent ups and downs, that even though her fiance knew how important this day was to her, that he wouldn’t seem to make it a priority. But she wouldn’t hold it against him, knowing that her future husband hadn’t really worked with Warrick much, hadn’t formed a bond with him like the rest of their team.

“If he can, I’ll be surprised,” is all she says, a sad smile playing out on her lips. He squeezes her hand. 

With her hand in his, he looks around. At his family. His wife basking in the sun, his best friend floating next to him in the water, Nick and Greg cracking up at something near the coolers that hold the alcohol- he’d never in a million years imagine his life would turn out this way. He’d always pictured himself sealed away in his condo, head stuck in some scholarly journal and work consuming his life. And although it had been that way for a while, he was glad for whatever had pulled him from that darkness. 

At his voice, Catherine’s head shoots up. Lou stands at the edge of the pool, a beer in his hand. 

“To Warrick,” his voice calls out, nodding towards his fiance, who now sports a bright smile on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> There it is! :D


End file.
